Four students die after coach collides with amphibious bus in Seattle

Collision: a coach carrying students collided with a 'duck boat' Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images#

Four students were killed after an amphibious bus collided with their coach on a bridge in Seattle.

The charter bus was taking foreign students to a college orientation event when it was involved in an accident with a "duck boat" tour vehicle.

The crash happened on the busy Aurora Bridge, which carries one of the Washington city's main north-south highways over a lake.

About 40 tourists were on the duck boat, a military-style tour bus that can also be operated on water, operated by tour company Ride the Ducks.

There was no immediate word about the cause of the crash, but initial reports suggest it may have been a head on collision.

Fifty-one people were taken to the hospital following the crash, and two people are said to be in a critical condition.

More than 50 people were taken to hospital following the incident

Witnesses described hearing a loud screech and then seeing injured people lying on the pavement or wandering around in a daze.

When emergency crews arrived, "a lot of people were running at them" pleading for help, Lieutenant Sue Stangl of the Seattle fire service said.

I was floating in this surreal world, like I was in slow motion bouncing off of things and just feeling the pain shooting everywhere

Tim Gesner

Lying in his hospital bed, Tim Gesner, 61, of Orlando, Florida, told The Seattle Times he was standing in the back of the duck boat and trying to take a picture after their tour guide pointed out the view.

He felt the vehicle start to fish-tail and the driver said, "Oh, no".

Mr Gesner looked forward and had a clear view of the duck boat veering left, directly into the bus.

"Then next thing was it's like you see in the movies," he said. "I was floating in this surreal world, like I was in slow motion bouncing off of things and just feeling the pain shooting everywhere and then my face slamming against the seat in front of me and then it was quiet.

"I just turned and looked, and that's when I saw the carnage."

Firefighters survey the wreckage of the crash

North Seattle College spokeswoman Melissa Mixon said students and staff from the school's international programme were among those injured and counsellors were on hand.

The school said the four people killed were foreign students and government officials were trying to contact family members.

The safety of the amphibious boats has been questioned before.

Lawyer Steve Bulzomi represented a motorcyclist who was run over and dragged by a Ride the Ducks boat that came up behind him at a stoplight in central Seattle in 2011.